One Last Run
Transplanting yourself from one end of the country to another is a pretty daunting task. Not only do you have the usual issues you may expect, such as finding new schools for your kids or getting to know the nuances of a new town, but there are also other concerns, especially if you are a sports fan. You have to leave behind the common camaraderie that comes with supporting the hometown teams and face becoming a sports pariah in your new place of residence, where your backing of any team with the word ‘Chicago’ preceding the team’s name might be seen as a little odd.
These concerns are doubled when your sport is basketball, which despite its worldwide popularity has not grown nearly as much outside of non urban areas not within the state of Indiana, where they breathe corn and hoops..
In a land where football is king, basketball will always be second or third fiddle.
Which is a shame, as a Chicago player’s untimely injury has proven to me that the Lone Star State definitely has some game, especially when it comes to the San Antonio Spurs.
You see, as I said, I am a Chicago fan by design, meaning that I will support Bears over Texans, something which might be seen as a prosecutable offense by some of my new neighbors. This means that I was watching in horror as the Chicago Bulls star point guard, Derrick Rose, went down with a torn ACL injury, officially calling an end to the NBA Playoffs for at least a year for me as I awaited his return to form.
Once the shock of the event wore off and I stopped crying into my beer, I decided to back a team that I have always had a lot of respect for dating back to the late 1990’s.
The San Antonio Spurs.
In return, head coach Greg Popovich, aging future hall of fame inductee Tim Duncan and point guard Tony Parker have enabled me to enjoy one of the best examples of team play and chemistry then I have ever seen, bar none. The fact that the team is such a mix of old and new talent is admirable and the Spurs go about their business with class and sportsmanship. They really exemplify the spirit and character of the state of Texas.
As of this writing, the Spurs have just advanced to the Western Conference Finals, one series away from the NBA Finals. If the Spurs can win both series and once again reclaim the championship trophy (the trophy will have a short trip from Dallas where it currently resides with the Dallas Mavericks), they will have won it all five times in the last twelve years, further cementing them in history as the fourth best team of all time in terms of championships won.
Even more amazing is the fact that the teams stars are now aging veterans, who rather than slowing down or trying too hard to do things beyond their ability, have grown into a team concept that almost seems out of place in the modern world of money grubbing players more concerned with their bank accounts rather than winning games.
The sacrifice is so refreshing to see that it makes me sad to realize that a large part of the current Spurs roster will most likely be making one of their final runs this season. Age is something that we can hold off for a bit, maybe even ignore if we are healthy enough, but eventually we have to give in to the fact that our bodies are no longer the same as they were.
For the Spurs, who have four main players in their thirties, this does not bode well for the long term of the franchise as far as being a championship contender. Which is what makes this years Spurs team even more special, as you get to see the flames of desire and the drive of a winning spirit one more time before it is all delegated to the history books, locked in the past.
So, for all the sports fans reading this who have gone into hibernation till the first NFL kickoff off 2012, you may want to postpone that nap as you just might miss one of the last great seasons of one of Texas’ finest sports teams ever.
